THE OSPREY. 53 
visit the same spot, and saw what was perhaps the same 
young Osprey, himself with a fish. 
Wonderful as are the achievements of all young birds 
in the matter of flight and the selection of their varied 
food, there is, to my mind, none more truly worthy of 
admiration than the first plunge of a young Osprey for a 
fish. Yet, as in all the other instances, the mysterious 
dictates of instinct, assisted of course by watching the 
parents, alone are responsible. Mr. Baynes’s two tame 
Ospreys, which were taken from their nest and reared by 
hand, started to fish as soon as they were able to fly. 
Referring to the earliest effort of one of his birds he writes : * 
“‘ His tactics were similar to those employed by old and 
experienced Ospreys, but the execution was clumsy. It 
was the attempt of a tyro, and of course the fish escaped. 
But in a few days both Hawks became expert.” 
Similarly, Mr. C. W. Beebe tells of a young Osprey 
which was brought as a nestling to the New York Zoological 
Park: t ‘ One day a fish was thrown beyond the line of 
cavernous-mouthed Pelicans in the great outdoor flying 
cage, and the young Osprey swooped at it and fell headlong 
into the water. He half kicked, half flapped his way to 
shore, and crawled out disappointed and bedraggled. ‘The 
sight of the fish was just the stimulus needed to give an 
impetus to an instinct, latent but trembling for expression. 
After the first blind yielding to impulse, experience entered 
in as guide and instructor, and a few more attempts 
made this young Osprey master of his art.” 
In his famous ‘‘ American Ornithology,” Wilson records 
seeing a young Osprey meet its parent in the air and receive 
from him the fish he carried in his claws. This proceeding 
is probably unusual, however, and has not been noted 
by such observers as I have questioned. Wilson is also 
authority for the statement, widely copied but not con- 
firmed by some writers at least, that Ospreys, before they 
* Zoological Society Bulletin,” No. 11, 1903, p, 120. 
¢ ‘*Scribner’s Magazine,” XLI,, 1907, p. 704. 
